


The Problem with Magic

by flashforeward



Series: The Mages [1]
Category: Eerie Indiana, Hocus Pocus (1993)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-25 01:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4940632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashforeward/pseuds/flashforeward
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The problem with magic is it's a very imprecise science.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Problem with Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [froodliestfroodle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/froodliestfroodle/gifts).



The problem with magic is it is a very imprecise science. Whereas repeating the exact steps in any other experiment will garner the same results, magic is changeable. Which is why  _ this  _ time, in  _ this _ reality, when Max Denison lights the black flame candle he, Allison, Dani, and an angry black cat find themselves out of the Sanderson house and instead in a different dark, dilapidated building. Meanwhile, Marshall and Syndi Teller, Simon Holmes, and Dash X have to face down the Sanderson sisters.

 

Not to mention find a way back home.

 

*

 

"I  _ told _ you Eerie was weird," Marshall says, triumphant.

 

Syndi rolls her eyes. "I didn't say I didn't believe you, I said an amnesiac with prematurely gray hair wasn't adequate proof."

 

"And  _ I  _ said of course he's proof, look at his hands, and he woke up in the mill!"

 

"And I said tattoos and weird sleeping habits  _ still _ don't mean anything concrete."

 

"And  _ I _ ," Dash pipes up, "said I'm standing right here and you can stop talking about me like I'm not."

 

"Guys," Simon says before the argument can get rolling again. "Where  _ is _ here?"

 

Syndi crosses to the counter. "The Sanderson Museum," she reads. "Salem, Massachusetts."

 

"How did we get from Eerie to Salem in a few seconds?" Marshall asks.

 

Syndi, who has shifted her gaze to the window, shakes her head. "I don't think that's our biggest problem right now," she says. She turns to the others, eyes wide. "Guys, we need to hide. Or get out of here."

 

*

 

"Max?" Dani's voice is quiet, Max almost doesn't hear her. "Max, what happened."

 

"I...I don't know." He flicks the lighter, but it's glow is too dim for him to see very far. "Where are we?" he asks.

 

"Somewhere else," says a low voice. "It smells different here."

 

There's silence for a moment, then Allison speaks. " Um, guys?  Where are the Sanderson sisters?"

 

*

 

Mars  _ just _ manages to squeeze into a hidden corner of the loft before the door bursts open. He made sure Syndi and Simon were hidden before trying to find one for himself, and he knew he was cutting it close. Just not how close. Dash refused to hide and is sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. "I'm always where I'm not supposed to be," he'd said. Mars had called him an idiot, but there hadn't been time to argue.

 

The door opens with a crash and three anachronistically dressed women stride in, one blonde, one brunette, one a red head. They freeze at the sight of Dash.

 

Mars inches forward just a little. He wants to see what comes next.

 

*

 

"They aren't here," says the cat who Max has finally accepted is a cursed kid named Thackery and can, therefore, talk. He's explored the building they're in while Max, Dani, and Allison waited.

 

His return startles Max and though he tries to cover it up, he catches Dani's snicker, nervous though it sounds. "So where are we?" he asks, hoping Allison hasn't noticed how jumpy he is.

 

"A mill," Thackery answers. "It's long out of use, though."

 

"How did we get from the Sanderson house to a mill?" Allison asks. "And  _ why _ ?"

 

"Magic," Thackery says, "is an imprecise science."

 

"It isn't a science at all," Max says, "it's just-"

 

"A bunch of hocus pocus?" Dani cuts in, her voice snide.

 

Max shuts up.

 

*

 

"How did you find us, you filthy creature?" the redhead demands, glaring down at Dash.

 

Dash makes a show of sizing them up. "You don't exactly blend in," he says, playing along with ease. "Have any of you looked in a mirror lately? You stick out like sore thumbs."

 

The three gasp in unison and step back. Mars bites back a gro a n, trying to figure out why Dash thinks it's a good idea to antagonize people. Particularly three people who are clearly witches.  _ Clearly _ .

 

"Get out of our chair," the redhead growls, "get out of our house!"

 

"You know," Dash says, "I don't think I will. It's a pretty comfortable chair." He cocks his head and Mars knows he's grinning and he just doesn't get what Dash could possibly be up to.

 

"Sisters!" the redhead shrieks. "Bring me my book! I shall teach this impudent youth a lesson!"

 

"Yes, Winnie," the brunette and the blonde say together before crossing towards a display case a few feet past the chair.

 

That's when Dash snaps his fingers and things get, if possible, even weirder.

 

*

 

They leave the mill. There isn't anything there, no clues as to what's going on, so they start walking towards the lights of a town. The only way they're going to find answers is if they first find out where they are. Max sticks close to Dani, all but holding her hand - he knows she'll only pull away if he reaches for it. Allison keeps pace with them while Thackery, smaller and faster, is ahead of them, occasionally scouting out over hills or through trees before reporting back that it's safe to go on.

 

M ax hopes the lights up ahead mean  safety and not more fear, but he isn't going to hold his breath.

 

*

 

The book breaks out of its display case with a shatter of glass, causing the blonde and the brunette to cringe back away from it. The redhead - Winnie, Mars figures - initially begins by cackling with glee, but her laughter is cut short when the book flies not to her outstretched hands but into Dash's own open palm. It immediately begins to smoke, the smell of cooking flesh quickly permeating the small building.

 

Unfortunately, Dash must look just as surprised as everyone else because Winnie starts to descend upon him , her startled expression shifting quickly to one of anger.

 

"Give me my book, boy," she says, reaching towards it. Dash reaches out reflexively, pushing her hand away, and where his flesh meets hers smoke rises and she shrieks and pulls back. "What is this magic?!" she demands, cradling her now burned hand and stepping back. The other two join her, all cowering by the door, eyes fixed on Dash.

 

Dash who clearly doesn't know what to say or do. Who, Mars fears, is probably about to drop the book because the smell is awful and it's just smoking in his hand and shriveling up and that has to be terrifying for Dash because it's terrifying for Mars and he waits, breath caught in his throat, wondering what happens next.  


*

 

A huge store looms up before them on the main street. The World O'Stuff. They go in because it's as good a place as any to regroup and Max and Allison have some pocket money so they can get some snacks and recharge. The question is what to do with Thackery, but in the end they just take him in with them and resolve to say he's a service animal if anyone challenges them.

 

If that doesn't work, Max figures he can just talk and that'll solve everything.

 

No one says anything, though. At least, not specifically about Thackery.

 

There's a middle aged man with dark hair and quite the mustache standing behind the place's milk counter. He's cleaning it off with a cloth as though someone just left, though they didn't pass anyone on the way in.

 

"Ah, I see it's that time, is it?" the man asks, gesturing for them to sit. "I'll whip up some milk shakes and put down some milk for the young gentleman down there." He checks his watch. "You've got a bit of a wait still, but it should all be over soon."

 

Max isn't sure what's going on, but he leads the way to the counter while the man sets down a saucer of milk for Thackery and then busies himself making the milkshakes.

 

"What will be over soon?" Allison asks, but her voice is quiet and she's not really asking the man behind the counter so much as she's asking Max or Dani or Thackery. But none of them have the answer and Max watches the man, wondering if he heard, wondering if he'll tell them.

 

*

 

It's Syndi who saves them which is just so not fair because Mars would totally have done something if he'd been on the ground floor instead of up in the loft but he couldn't get down in time without being to exposed and, really, the three women are definitely witches so he didn't want to be a target for an extended period of time  but still he could totally have stopped it.

 

But it's Syndi who steps out, stopping in front of Dash, facing the women. "Keep hold on the book," she says. Mars sees Dash nod, though Syndi is focused on the witches. "We want you gone, Sanderson sisters," Syndi says, her voice authoritative and strong. Marshall is actually pretty impressed. "Salem is protected now, your dark magic has no place here."

 

"Who dares to command us!" Winnie cries.

 

Syndi steps forward and the witches step back. "Begone!" Syndi says. "Return to the fires from whence you came and leave this village in peace. Your time has passed and will never come again!"

 

The book in Dash's hand flares once more, bright and blinding in the dimly lit shack, and then it's gone. An instant later, with shrieks of agony and fear, the witches follow.

 

And an instant after that, Marshall, Syndi, Simon, and Dash are sitting at the milk counter in the World O'Stuff staring at empty milkshake cups that they definitely didn't drink from while Mr. Radford just smiles and says, "Glad that's all done with!"

 

*

 

When they get back to the Sanderson house, they make a pact to never speak of this again. Ever. Max isn ' t even worried about the whole virgin thing, he doesn't care about that, it's the trans-location, the talking cat, and the mysterious shop owner he wants to not think about.

 

The talking cat didn't make it back with them, which upsets Dani, but considering how long the guy had lived, Max figures he's probably glad to have finally shuffled off this mortal coil. He doesn't tell that to Dani, though, just says he's probably okay. Cats are pretty resourceful, after all.

 

They walk together back to Allison's house and make sure she gets inside okay, a quick "See you at school," their only farewell. Then Max and Dani head home, exhausted.

 

It's been a long, strange  H alloween.

 

*

 

Syndi and Dash sit in the secret spot, quiet and pensive.

 

"How did you know what to say?" Dash asks.

 

"I didn't," Syndi shakes her head. "We just read Macbeth in English and I was thinking about that and there was a little info sheet where I was hiding so I skimmed it a bit and then I just...winged it. That's usually what you guys do, isn't it?"

 

Dash snorts. "That's what the dynamic duo do, I usually try to stay out of all this stuff."

 

"What about you?"

 

Dash shrugs. "I didn't really do anything. I just. It just happened."

 

"What was it?"

 

Dash shakes his head and looks down at his hands.

 

"Hey," Syndi says, reaching out and laying a hand over Dash's. "We'll figure it out together," she says. "All of us. Me, you, Simon, Mars...," she trails off and looks over at Marshall's desk where they'd set the book Mr. Radford gave them after their return. All he'd said was that it was time they had it and then he'd said goodnight and shown them out before locking up the World O'Stuff.

 

It was a large, red bound tome . The only things on the front were a large plus and minus sign, side by side, shining in the dim light from the attic lamp.

 

 


End file.
